As the population ages, elderly people suffering from dysphagia are increasing. Many elderly people may have difficulty in swallowing foods and develop symptoms of dysphagia. In many cases, dysphagia may cause aspiration (entry of a substance in the oral cavity into the airway), and entry of the aspirated substance into the lung may cause bacterial infection, resulting in pneumonia. Therefore, amelioration of dysphagia to prevent the aspiration is expected to be effective for reducing senile pneumonia.
On the other hand, many patients suffering from aftereffects of cerebral stroke frequently develop pneumonia. In recent years, it has became clear that, among patients suffering from cerebral stroke, patients having cerebrovascular disorders in the basal ganglion have a higher incidence of pneumonia. A dopamine receptor produced from the nigrostriatum is originally present in the basal ganglion, so a damage in the basal ganglion may affect various functions to be controlled by a brain dopamine. The dopamine adjusts the amount of substance P secreted from a sensory branch in the vagus nerve to the pharynx or airway. The substance P plays an important role in perception in the pharynx or airway, and a decrease in the amount of secreted substance P may disturb swallowing reflex in the pharynx and may disturb cough reflex in the airway.
Patent Document 1 discloses an agent for ameliorating dysphagia, which contains a polyphenol as an active ingredient. On the other hand, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a capsaicin troche for dysphagia in elderly people. However, there is a problem that, if capsaicin is used in an amount sufficient to ameliorate dysphagia, pungent taste may be caused.
The capsinoid, which is known as a capsicum component as well as capsaicin, is known to have an activation action on energy metabolism (Patent Document 2: JP 11-246478 A), weight loss effect (Patent Document 3: JP 2001-026538 A), accelerating action on oxygen consumption (Non-Patent Document 2: Biosci. Biotech. Biochem: 65(12) 2735-40 (2001)), etc. Meanwhile, an experiment in which a person ingests “CH-19 sweet” containing a capsinoid has been confirmed that the capsinoid has a hyperthermic action and accelerating action on oxygen consumption in the human (Non-Patent Document 3: Biosci. Biotech. Biochem: 65(9) 2033-2036 (2001)). However, it has not been known that the capsinoid has an ameliorating action on dysphagia.    Patent Document 1: JP 2004-107285 A    Patent Document 2: JP 11-246478 A    Patent Document 3: JP 2001-026538 A    Non Patent Document 1: JAGS, 53, p. 824-828. 2005    Non Patent Document 2: Biosci. Biotech. Biochem: 65(12) 2735-40 (2001)    Non Patent Document 3: Biosci. Biotech. Biochem: 65(9) 2033-2036 (2001)